Hm. Maybe I should grab them, too. Such good games.

I've been playing A Plague Tale Requiem. GOG had a deal, so I grabbed it. Nothing too difficult, but a little too much sneaking for my taste. I'm enjoying it though!

I have been thinking about starting a replay of Anvil of Dawn or World of Xeen (Might and Magic 3 and 4), all games which I loved.

I'm still playing Fallout 76 and occasionally Veilguard, but I have to admit that the latter has disappointed me somewhat -- not the game itself, which is fine, but the brutal and very strange pathfinding, which can mean circling around for literally hours looking for the location you're trying to get to, with the marker suggesting that it's about ten feet and a million miles away at the same time. The cities are designed with ropes and ladders and pulleys and dead ends, which makes no sense at all in the context of a liveable city. I hate that aspect of the the game and it actually makes me not want to play because it interferes with the gameplay and flow of the story and adds nothing but frustration to the experience.

Well, since I'm currently unemployed and have a bit more time now, I've been getting back into Baldur's Gate 3. One of my favorite things to do in games like this is create a variety of character races and classes to see how they impact the game. Being a fan of R. A. Salvatore novels about Drizzt Do'Urden, I've been running a Drow Ranger, though I did not give him lavender colored eyes like Drizzt's I've envisioned this character as a specialist in battling fiends, so his appearance reflects that. The scar across his right eye is complimented by a "Demonic Red" eye color, being in my mind, the result of a battle with one of the Avernus crew, while the left eye is a more traditional Emerald green which I felt aligned with his Seldarine background (rather than being Lolth sworn).

So far I've tried Fighter, sub-classed into Eldritch Knight, Warlock beholden to the "Great Old One" and an Elven Druid. I think I'm enjoying the Ranger the most. Probably because I usually enjoy playing stealthy archer types anyways. The interactions as a Drow are also unique and somewhat of an advantage, at least in Act 1. It's fun to see the little changes that come through with the updates that Larien seems to be continually pushing through. Just amazes me how invested in the game details they are. I also enjoy the random musical interludes that can be triggered, really adds to the immersion. The one thing that does get to me is companion movement. I think they've done some environmental tweaks to prevent followers from running through random fire or acid surfaces, but the need for micro-management is still there at times. It's OK though, I'm kind of a control freak anyways Also, is it my imagination or did the redcaps get even harder to fight with the last couple updates? Well, back to it.

Just about to start the Outcast sequel. I didn't even know it existed until recently.
Looking forward to it

I'm taking a break from Fallout 76 and trying to decide what game to start next. I'm restricted to my Steam Deck because I can't sit for long periods of time, as my legs swell up (Sigh. Getting old), so I have to make do with lounging on the couch with my feet up and a cat in my lap. It's a tough gig but somebody has to do it.

I'm leaning towards either Witcher 3 or Cyberpunk. Unfortunately it seems my earlier game saves are gone, and I was most of the way through Witcher 3 when I moved, so it would be a new game.

Or I could start Stalker 2.

EDIT: So the workaround for getting Stalker 2 to play on my Deck didn't work.

I thought I'd try something new, so I've loaded up Dying Light. We'll see how that goes.

I've been playing Fallout London, and have finished the Camelot questline, the Angel questline, and am close to finishing the 5th Column questline. I've also done most side quests -- there is one that references "Kid in the Fridge" in Fallout 4. I've met the Queen, been to Buckingham Palace, Westminister Palace, and other landmarks. I've reached max affinity with all the companions and done all their personal quests (some were quite good). It's been great fun. Since patch 1.02 came out (on 10/18/24), crashes have been much less frequent. The "High FPS Physics Fix" mod at Nexusmods also has reduced the duration of loading screens, from 20-90+ seconds to 5-15 seconds. Settlement-building is still very buggy as of this moment. The upcoming 1.03 patch is supposed to be mostly about fixing settlements.

I abandoned Fallout London because of bugs I encountered, but I might pick it up again. I was having fun.



I'm having bad luck with games on my Steam deck. I started Metro 2033, and it's really a great game, but my game saves vanished so that was that. And the game I started today is unplayable because the menus are so arcane on the deck and I can't work them out. I may have to just play a game of Cyberpunk or Skyrim, but I did want to play something new and exciting.

There is something about the Metro save games vanishing here. Not sure if this will help you, but I thought I would link you to it nevertheless, just in case.

I have played all of the Metro games and luckily I've never run into losing my games! My grandson just did a run through Metro Exodus in Ranger mode where he was here in December.

Matro Exodus is such a great game. I didn't think I'd enjoy it at first, but it really grabbed me.

Marian, I'll check out that link. Thanks.

EDIT: Ah. I've already done that. The issue is that there are no game saves anywhere; not on the Deck, not on my computer, and not on the Cloud. So they are actually gone. Bummer.

I am doing a replay of Soma but it has been tough going. I left the doctors office through a window that I broke and have been wandering around a dark facility. There are signs on the walls but I have not been able to find all of the areas on the signs. Is there a walkthrough available or can someone get me on the right track? I do not have an omnitool.

Ah, Soma! One of my all-time favorite games. You can find a walkthrough here... there are also quite a few video walkthroughs out there you can find in a search.

https://www.ign.com/wikis/soma/Walkthrough

I'm playing Stalker 2 on my computer since it doesn't work on my Deck.

So far, although it's fun, it doesn't have the ominous creepiness of the original games. However, it's enough fun that I'll keep playing.

I'm at the point in Fallout 76 where I pop in, do the daily tasks for the Season points, and pop out again. I'm building up to try a Raid solo, which will probably end in tears, but at least I now have the gear for it.

Stalker 2 is on my radar as well, as well as the Indiana Jones game. I've just finished Fallout London and loved it. Right now I'm playing Borderlands 3 (2019), the zany and chaotic shooter game with an over-the-top personality and comic-book art style. It's quite a change of pace for me.

I've played the raids in Fallout 76 about 20 times and I already don't want to play it anymore. It is pure grinding and ammo-wasting and not much else to offer. All the other endgame content -- public events, daily ops, expeditions, caravans, etc. -- all have variations, backstories, NPC interactions, and bit of pizzazz to make them interesting. But raids are just the same thing over and over again. The only reason to play raids is to get the 4-star mods, but you can buy those from players -- and they will come down in price when more and more players get them. More importantly, what is the use of 4-star mods anyway, other than to make raids a little easier? It seems like just an endless cycle of grinding with not much purpose to it.

Getting the right gear together for the raids gave me something to do for a while, since I literally have not received a legendary crafting recipe since the latest DLC appeared, and that's with playing almost day. So perhaps well over 1500 scrapped items for nothing, except for two lowly box mods. Then I finally got the Troubleshooter's crafting plan and made my 75% robot-proof armour. Since I'm playing solo it'll be a grind but doable now. Then I think I'll leave it alone and move on to other things. I've certainly got my money's worth out of it.

I suppose I should get back to Fallout London. It was the bugginess of the settlements that drove me away, but I can ignore that and just finish the game, or perhaps start a new one. It really is a wonder, considering it's a fan-made mod.

Stalker 2 is worth playing, I think. I've only put a few hours in but it's really engaged my interest.


EDIT: I'm experiencing numerous crashes with Stalker 2. It's also punishingly difficult, even on the easy level. Fun, but difficult.

EDIT: Sigh. Having very bad luck with my games. Now in Stalker 2 I've into a game-ending bug. Annoyingly, lots of people have experienced it but it still hasn't been fixed.

EDIT EDIT: Okay, got Stalker 2 up and running again. I've finally got some decent gear, and at this point the most difficult part of the game is the weight restriction, which has the player character literally gasping for breath as he lugs back the two or three unbroken guns he wants to sell. The game doesn't feel as lonely as the older ones did; there are several settlements for resting, trading and repairing and upgrading gear. Now that I'm not being killed every time I run into a mutant, I'm enjoying it.